IPCC and Pachauri: to see or not to see, that is the question

UPDATE July 31, 2015: Please note some further developments on the “As the Pachauri world turns” front via my comment below -hro

If you’ve ever watched now former (perhaps or perhaps not!) TERI head honcho and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chair, Rajendra Pachauri in unscripted mode, you just know that his more articulate renderings have been written for him (or co-written).

When he’s in “unscripted mode” you can virtually count on Pachauri rambling beyond the realm of reason. In this particular mode, he always reminds me of the third-rate “revisionist scholars” I so often encountered during the days when I was actively involved in combatting Holocaust denial on the ‘net. Not unlike such “scholars”, Pachauri has demonstrated a facility for picking up stuff from one table and dropping it on another.

As I had noted in my previous post, on July 15, someone – with the appropriate permissions – had uploaded to the IPCC’s YouTube channel what we now know as the bewigged Pachauri delivering a scripted video as “Chairman of the IPCC”.

Pachauri in his pre-bewigged days, circa 2010 [Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rajendra Pachauri prepares for a press conference at the United Nations building in Bangkok. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images]

One could certainly understand the presence of such a video had it been uploaded by the IPCC sometime prior to mid-February of this year when the allegations of sexual harassment first came to light, and were followed in rather short order by his quiet resignation from the IPCC and a few other related United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) fingers, arms etc.

In fact this resignation was so quiet that North American MSM news outlets – including Canada’s CBC, which is usually so hot to trot on the heels of such allegations – didn’t even deem it worth mentioning. And as far as I have been able to determine, CBC still hasn’t found it to be worth mentioning – notwithstanding the fact that barely an hour goes by when the purported perils of “climate change” aka “global warming” are not mentioned on the CBC’s airwaves. An issue about which (at least according to Pachauri’s declarations some years ago) the world would know nothing, if it weren’t for the work of the IPCC.

But back to (or, perhaps more to the point, fast forward to) mid-July of this year. July 17 was the day that a Delhi court decreed (for reasons that I certainly have not yet been able to fathom) that Pachauri should be permitted limited access to certain TERI offices. And this was also the day that Pachauri’s personal PR people – who’ve been quite remarkable in their various and sundry accounts of the “source” of the allegations against Pachauri, including most recently (i.e. circa July 24 on the heels of the supposed appointment of a Pachauri successor) that the:

complaint against him might be backed by “climate sceptics”

Oh, drat … I jumped forward – again! OK, back to July 17, a mere two days after the mysterious upload of the Pachauri as IPCC Chair video, his personal PR people put forth the following (my bold -hro):

Will work to ensure sensitivity to gender: RK Pachauri

New Delhi: Expressing “delight” over a court order allowing him to enter his office, TERI Director General RK Pachauri, accused of sexual harassment, on Friday said he will work towards ensuring a safe workplace for women.

He said that TERI has been his life’s work and he remains deeply committed to its mission.

However, activists who had earlier raised questions as to why he had not been suspended by the institution expressed shock over the order and termed him as a “threat” who will try to destroy evidence.

“I am delighted to rejoin my colleagues at TERI and to resume my duties. TERI has been my life’s work and I remain deeply committed to its mission and its people. Together we can make even greater contributions to human society through sustainable development based on justice and equity.

“I particularly look forward to further strengthening a culture at TERI that encourages excellence, recognises and rewards merit and ensures a safe and secure workplace that is sensitive to human values and dignity, particularly in respect to gender and social class,” Pachauri said in a statement.

[… And for good measure, someone decided to conclude the article by recycling Pachauri’s favourite myth:]

74-year-old Pachauri, who shared Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 […]

So we know that Pachauri’s personal PR people have been doing the job for which he’s (presumably) paying them. And as we know, PR people certainly have a knack for spinning! So, cast your mind back, dear reader to Pachauri’s first – and highly improbable, unless he’s totally incompetent and/or ignorant on the basic computer security front – excuse. This was something along the lines of multiple people having access to his laptop and password.

But, in fairly short order, his lawyers seemed to recognize that this implausible excuse was not likely to wash. So they told the court that this was not, in fact, the case! There’ve been so many twists and turns since February, that I cannot recall what the next excuse actually was.

However, considering that “leaks” from the IPCC have been fairly common in the last few years, basic computer security is not their most important product. This being the case … Who would find it in the least bit surprising to learn that those who have permission to upload videos to the IPCC’s YouTube channel share the same login and password?! And that it wasn’t changed after Pachauri’s resignation.

And, if this sharing is in fact the case, it would go quite some way towards explaining Pachauri’s invention of his first (but now discarded) excuse for the allegations. Not to mention a medium to high level of probability (by IPCC standards!) that Pachauri used the still-shared login and password to upload the video, in anticipation of the court’s decision in his favour on July 19.

Pure speculation on my part, I agree. But considering Pachauri’s known history and performances past, IMHO it’s certainly far more plausible than his latest and greatest claim – on the heels of his purported resignation from TERI – to the effect that the charges against him might be backed by “climate skeptics”.

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15 thoughts on “IPCC and Pachauri: to see or not to see, that is the question”

Yes, I read about his claim that the “complaint against him might be backed by “climate sceptics””. But level headed me thinks the complaint is more likely backed up by the hundreds of emails he wrote. I can understand a “skeptic hacker” maybe getting in one false email but I know of nobody skilled enough to impersonate a conversation for over a year without the victim realizing it.

I rarely speak like what I am going to say but this is a deserving case. This guy is a waste of skin.

Actually, writing the above raised my blood pressure. This guy is the poster child for arrogance, moral superiority complex, being above the law, noble cause corruption, elitist, the end justifies the means, sexist and all around creepy. Kinda reminds me of David Suzuki.

I’m not sure I could be in the same room as these guys so it freaks me out that some people hold them in high esteem.

The evidence certainly seems to point towards no one but Pachauri. And, if I’m not mistaken, in one (or perhaps more) of Donna’s posts on this saga, she had indicated that the cops have, in effect, confirmed this.

One of the other twists ‘n turns in this never-ending-often-truth-bending Pachauri story that I find quite at odds with his enthusiasm for his – apparently – somewhat short-lived return to his post: During one of the interrogation sessions, Pachauri claimed that his “advanced age” precluded his participation beyond two hours a day.

Which certainly raises the question: Prior to his February suspension, for how long had he only been working “two hours per day”? And why would they even want him back?! Surely such an organization requires a full-time head honcho at the helm – not someone whose capacities are so limited that he can only put in two hours per day!

As for that link you sent below … OMG, I said to myself – after donning my “net newbie hat” and reading through the contents. Damn good thing that this wasn’t my first exposure to these oh-so-noble “climate scientists” and their “feelings”! It’s quite possible that I might have landed on the other side of the fence with my vision totally clouded by tears … and reason smothered to the point of very little chance of recovery!

Talk about cry me a river, eh?!

Hilary – with one L if you don’t mind … I’d prefer not to run any chances of being mistaken for that (in)famous blonde South of the border ;-)

I too was taken aback by these personal notes. I cannot see how they could do objective science. I am now fully convinced we have a case of noble cause corruption. And they themselves offered the final evidence.

As for Hillary, I see she has started off with a bang. She wants half a billion solar panels installed in the US and produced a video mocking Republicans who say “I am not a scientist”. It looks like climate change will be her No. 1 platform. Grab some popcorn.

Mpcraig
(with apologies to Hilary for taking this thread off-topic)
Your link is fascinating. It’s a year old, by the way, going by the last, dated reply. I don’t know why it hasn’t been spotted before. I’m going to put up a “best of” compilation, then do some Lewandowsky-style thematic analysis: how many mention their grandchildren, how many want to “line sceptics up against the wall” (just one, I think).
Then I’d like to send my own chain letter. Any suggestions for one bright snappy question to ask?

Although I didn’t mention it in my reply to mpcraig, my impression is that the site itself has not been active for too long and it could well have taken the better part of a year to pull it all together. Here’s a video of this “science communicator”‘s latest project, btw:

As for suggestions … Sorry, can’t think of a “bright snappy question” at the moment, but …

The thought does occur to me that it might be worth considering putting out a call for a qualified volunteer “Forensic Analyst” – or at the very least a suitably qualified graphologist – to offer an analysis of these ready-made samples. So that we can learn more about these experts’ inner (and possibly heretofore hidden, ergo never ever before revealed) selves.

Well, I did begin this post by writing, “If you’ve ever watched now former (perhaps or perhaps not!) …” so consider me very unsurprised by Pachauri’s latest twist ‘n turn!

Perhaps I need to modify the title of my post so that it reads: “TERI and Pachauri: To lead or not to lead, that is the question” ;-)

Canadian MSM, as far as I can tell, have been running true-to-form on the “not a squeak” front. With the notable exception of the fairly quickly rising independent, albeit sometimes outspoken beyond reason, voices of TheRebel media’s Ezra Levant and his cohorts.

Another notable Canadian media exception is Canada’s National Post which at least carried the July 23 AP piece (which IIRC you had drawn to our attention on my previous thread, noting the surprising NYT coverage?!)

Far less subdued coverage, however, comes to us via India’s media. For example:

Jul. 17 – “TERI Chief RK Pachauri allowed to resume work”:

and:

Jul. 23 – “Sexual-harassment case: Teri sacks RK Pachauri”

But speaking of Pachauri and the video record of his public front, as put forward by the IPCC …

Sometime after Australia’s Tony Thomas had featured some of Pachauri’s twists ‘n turns to date, the IPCC’s PR powers that be decided they needed to be … well, a little more specific than they had been in that which I had captured in my previous post

Amazing, eh?! Perhaps someone needs to start a dedicated blog: As the Pachauri world turns;-)

“Pachauri out” – Rajendra Pachauri, the former chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has been replaced as director-general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi, India.”

:-) And I see that the “search for Pachauri’s replacement began in September 2014” meme has resurfaced. Perhaps September 2014 was when his being able to perform only “2 hours per day” first came to light?!

Although it is entirely within the realm of possibility that poor ol’ Pachauri has confused the beginning of the campaigning to (finally!) replace him as IPCC chair began in Sept. 2014, rather than any search to replace him as TERI head honcho.

To be honest, the only thing that surprises me, at this point, is that – at least to the best of my knowledge – particularly considering the nature of the allegations against him, Pachauri has not chosen to follow the Weaver-Mann path of launching a libel suit against his perceived purported detractors!

But perhaps he and/or his PR people are holding that particular card under his wig – and/or up their respective sleeves … at least for now!

In December 2009, the UK Telegraph published an article entitled “Questions over business deals of UN climate-change guru Dr Rajendra Pachauri.” After heavy threats, the Telegraph recanted and published an apology, including the following, which simply wasn’t the case.

“We also accept Tata’s assurance that it has no relationship with the Chairman of the IPCC, Dr Rajendra Pachauri. We apologise for these errors.”

There is never any shortage of money for using the big expensive firms. In this case he used a London firm, Carter Ruck,

“Carter-Ruck has unrivalled expertise in advising individuals and organisations who find themselves subject to adverse or intrusive media coverage. The firm’s lawyers have secured many of the highest ever damages awards in those fields, as well as unprecedented front page apologies in national newspapers.”

Not widely known, but the UN used global PR agency Ogilvy Mather to promote the AGW agenda, prior to Copenhagen.

Pachauri has “form” on so much recycled stuff, some days I find it’s a challenge for me to recall them all ;-)

But now that you mention it … Yes, I do recall his bullying of the Telegraph. But libel laws in the U.K. (as I learned during Irving vs Lipstadt & Penguin Books) tend to very much favour the complainant. IOW, unlike such laws in the US, the onus is on defendant(s) to prove that the complainant’s allegations are without merit – which, for the record, Lipstadt eventually did in spades.

So, to the extent that by December 2009, the U.K. Telegraph may well have seen the financial crunch writing on the virtual wall for all print media, I have a little sympathy for their decision to cave in. Clearly they did not have the cash to spare, as Pachauri (and/or his UN cohorts) presumably did.

But in 2009 – when I was still very much in newbie mode on the UNEP/IPCC and their respective shenanigans – I certainly did not know about the involvement of Ogilvy Mather.

Mind you, sometime later, I did learn that there were some pre-Copenhagen press mumblings to the effect that this was not necessarily a done deal, so – with the benefit of hindsight – the involvement of Ogilvy Mather does not surprise me.

I also seem to recall that prior to the “Warsaw Concerto”, the services of another PR agency were generously “volunteered”. Not that it helped “the cause” ;-)

“Pachauri was a speaker at an International Advertiser’s Association seminar in New York, on May 29, 2009. With typical advertising spiel, the talk was reported like this:

“What the Grateful Dead and Dr. Rajendra Pachauri Have in Common – A rapt audience”, by Kelly Stephenson, New York.

“…when Dr. Pachauri told members of the International Advertising Association during a special seminar last week in New York that “Advertisement can be a powerful agent of change if focused on information about low carbon products – which will be the products of tomorrow,” you can imagine how the OgilvyEarth attendees scooted to the edge of their seats.

Pachauri spoke to an intimate group of advertising folk on the challenges and opportunities facing business and the world. He limned the merits of global technological collaboration, discussed the need for the developed world to help the developing world progress sustainably, called for change in patterns of consumption and sketched the outline of an institutional framework for carbon mitigation and economic adaptation.”

Whilst on this occasion he was introduced as Head of IPCC, he was again dispensing policy.

“And to light a little fire under our seats, Pachauri told us that we have just a six-year window to stabilize climate change. But he also gave us ample cause for hope. Like OgilvyEarth, he believes there is a viable economic solution to climate change, and that the first step will be the UNFCC’s Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change in December.”

“And, like Pachauri, we make our living by walking the talk. We’re currently working with the UN and the IAA to develop a campaign – or rather a movement – that will help drive a positive outcome at the conference.”

OgilvyEarth is part of the massive global advertising group, Ogilvy and Mather and the Copenhagen campaign was named “Hopenhagen”. ”

Launched under the umbrella strapline “Hopenhagen”, the campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of the UN meeting in Denmark in December. The meeting aims to secure a new global climate change treaty to replace the Kyoto protocol.

UN representatives unveiled the campaign, in conjunction with the International Advertising Association, at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival today.”